Gov. John Hickenlooper and Attorney General John Suthers sent a letter this week to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reiterating their interest in the Justice Department’s attitude toward Amendment 64: Namely, will it try to block the marijuana-legalization measure?

Unfortunately, the five paragraph letter never once suggests that Hickenlooper and Suthers would like the Justice Department to honor Colorado voter intent. To the contrary, it emphasizes the options the feds could take to derail 64, such as taking “legal action to block the implementation of Amendment 64″ and prosecuting “grow and retail operations.”

“Importantly, we also need to know whether the federal government will regard Colorado State employees who regulate and oversee the growing and distribution of marijuana as acting in violation of federal law,” they write – never thinking to point out that Holder doesn’t have to reach this particular conclusion.

To repeat what I said in a column last week[1], “Is it too much to ask top state officials to go to bat for voters who just passed an amendment that the federal government might not like?”